The night moon was hanging over the small grey tent that Asura had put up the day before, the moon's light shone on his camp while Asura was kept deep in sleep. Asura walked through the forest in his dream, scanning the Trees and bushes for any signs. He had no idea where he was, or even why he was there, the moment he looked dead ahead of his path, he noticed a glowing pair of red eyes creep out of the darkness and shadows. Asura remained in place as he watched a man, quite like himself wandering out of the darkness, approaching Asura, repeating a single verse over and over again, "Voices twist and turn the mind, changing the way we hear the vines, looking upon the earth below, where our empty beds will grow." The stranger kept repeating it in a sadistic voice, sending chills throughout Asura's body. Asura looked at the man, staring him dead in the eyes, "Let the voices be silent, let them be still, let the hordes of the lost sound their ill will." The stranger spoke in a low tone. Asura awoke, breathing heavily as he looked around in a panic, looking for those hellish red eyes that haunted his dream. Asura placed his hands on his forehead, "Gods, that was... I don't even know what that was..." He shook his head from side to side, trying to get the thoughts out of his mind, the image of that man. He looked almost the exact same as Asura; such a thought scared this once fearless giant. He fell back, heading back to sleep, placing his arms under his pillows as he returned to his slumber.

Asura yawned as he slowly raised his head off of his pillow. His eyes slowly opened, showing the blurry light peering through the tent. The blur started to clear as he shook his head from side to side, clearing his mind of the nightmares from last night, the sights of gigantic spiders crawling around him, vanishing, leaving his mind with the dream of a six-armed being, glowing with wrath. Asura tapped his forehead lightly with the palm of his head, his head aching, "Owww... Why today... Wait... I get to train today, at least something good comes of this" He quietly spoke in his low toned voice. He moved the blanket off of himself and tossed it to the side as he crawled out of the tent. He stood up and yawned, stretching his arms and legs, cracking his neck before throwing a few punches at the air. He packed up his things putting them away carefully before picking up his backpack and making his way back into the village.

Asura walked along on the side walk, looking around as he passed by the shorter villagers, smiling as he wave to those who recognized him. He would occasionally look up to see the beautiful morning sky as he walked past the several homes between his and the market, hearing the villagers talk as he passed by, seeming to have not a care in the world. Asura turned the corner and passed by a Cafe, his eyes scanning the streets for a book store, remembering about Cero and the books he wanted to bring back for him from his visit. His mind wandered as he passed by each store. He stopped and looked up to the sky, a strong breeze flowed by, moving his short silver hair and his grey shirt. He slowly closed his bright purple eyes and took a breath of the cool air in, feeling the thrill of a new day course through his blood. Asura's eyes slowly opened again, his eyes almost glittering in the sun, "Ah, this is going to be a fun day, I can smell it in the air. Something amazing is going to happen..." He spoke quietly to himself, his low voice sounding as he walked ahead.

“His name is Draygglez Senju and he has been missing for quite a while. He was last seen in kiri and when the time is come, I will send an escort with you to kirigakure so you can investigate the matter.” Dray lay on the bed with his palms behind his head as the raikage’s words echoed in his ears. He was waiting on the raikage to approve of the mission so he could start work on it. He was to investigate a missing ninja for the raikage, it was a specially assigned mission and Dray felt some worth to an extent since the raikage had requested it of him personally and he wasn’t going to let the lightning king down. The wind would breeze in gently through the half opened windows of Dray’s room as the bed sheets that covered him could move in rhythm to the external force. The clouds would be the first thing to rise up into the sky announcing the dawn of a brand new day in the village hidden in the clouds. It was only yesterday that Dray had found himself at the gates of this great village and here he was today, someone of measurable value to the hidden cloud. He was but a blank piece of paper when he came and now, he had something to look forward to. He wasn’t here to earn the acknowledgements of other neither was he here to do things that would earn him an applause. He was here in search of a home and he had found one so he was going to do to this village what a person does to his home, protect it.

Dray sat up in bed as he looked out the windows. He smirked a little at the deceiving clouds that showed that the day was going to be a perfect one but anyone who had an idea of what the hidden cloud village was like, then they would know better than to trust these clouds because the weather in this part of the world was so unpredictable. Something he knew flicked past the back of his mind and he wondered what it was. He closed his eyes and he pictured the to- do list in his mind but everything was intact and just then, he remembered it. An announcement had gone round the village concerning the starting of the chunin exams that was going to be held in kumogakure no sato so the village was going to be expecting shinobis from far and wide and all villagers were to be of good behavior to these visitors. Another little smile escaped the corner of his lips as the thought of being professional shrouded him like a cloak. It was more like killing two birds with one stone meaning that he could get to know other shinobis and then find out information on his yet to be pre- assignment. He was sure that there would be ninjas from konoha, kirigakure and what other ninja villages there were. It was a nice setting indeed so he had to get prepared and head out to see what new visitors were already around.

Dray got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. He pulled off his clothes and had a nice shower. He was done in a matter of minutes and he was smelling nice. He dressed himself up in another set of his usual attire which consisted of a green and black cloak that covered up to the under of his eyes and black shinobi pants too. He combed his hair and picked up his ninja pouch and three scrolls containing his puppets. He exited his room and walked down the hall way and down the stairs to the dining room where the giant sleeping inn always served food to their customers. He got to the dining room and sat down at a table as he picked up the menu, called a waiter and ordered for bread and butter with a cup of milk to go with it. He hardly ate solid food in the morning so what he had ordered was just to hold his stomach till when it could. Dray was served his breakfast as he ate the food calmly after which he finished it and gave it a little time to digest. Dray got up from the dining table knowing that his bill would be forwarded to him when he got back to the inn and he exited the doors of the inn and walked unto the streets of kumogakure.

The shop keepers seemed happy with the upcoming chunin exams because they knew that they would be patronized a lot and so they were trying their best to stock up their shops with enough goods to last the exam period. Dray looked to his left and right as he saw some new faces most of which were genins and by their head bands, he could recognize them. Dray was not putting on his own head band for this investigate purpose so he would appear not as a shinobi of kumogakure to another that saw him because even if he had worn his head band, the green color that shone all around him would make it difficult to say that he was from the cloud village. With a calm mind, Dray would keep walking the streets in hopes of coming across something or someone interesting.
WC:908

Asura passed by a Cafe, his eyes scanning the streets for a book store, remembering about Cero and the books he wanted to bring back for him from his visit. His mind wandered as he passed by each store, 'Huh, wonder where cousin Dray is, not heard from him in a few years... Maybe I'll run into him here, there is always that chance, it would be great, I really miss that guy... I'd get to show him my awesome new jutsu, though, I really should start to work on my Earth techniques, almost nothing there... He would be proud of me.' He smiled to himself before realizing he was standing still the entire time, right in the middle of the road. Asura laughed a little to himself before looking for a bench to sit on. He strolled off to the right and sat down on a bench, taking his bag off and placing it down next to him as he relaxed with a large smile across his face, leaning his head back as he stretched his arms and legs a bit, cracking his neck. "Been a while since I had a long run, wow, almost forgot what it felt like to run for your life so you wont be late... If I missed these exams I would have never forgiven myself..." He spoke to himself, closing his eyes slowly. His mind drifted yet again, 'Perhaps Cero or Yuki would like to come here, just from the first look of it, it looks like a nice place, maybe I should have brought them with me for the exams, cheer me on... That would just distract me though, an I am going to win these, I will become a Chunnin, and I will get stronger to protect my family and what I stand for... Nothing will stop me.' Asura clenched his fist and sat up properly, holding his hand in front of his face with his eyes wide open, still with a smile on his face, "I wont lose..." He spoke softly to himself, getting himself fired up. Asura's mind ran wild with thoughts, ideas leading up to the exams, getting some armor, a weapon, maybe combat gloves of some kind. He thought back to his jutsu that he had been working on recently. Asura looked down to his black leather backpack, opening it up and looking inside. He reached his hand in and rummaged around inside, looking for something to hand the strange shinboi. Asura pulled out a bottle of water, kept inside a tightly sealed black metal bottle. Asura smiled, opening the bottle and taking a long drink from it before putting it back. Asura could remember about what his father said about Ninjas from Kumo, that most of them are nice, and kind, and welcoming, however, like with every village there were some who could never be trusted. His father always reminded him of his friend, who were from Kumo too, but that was all he knew, not even what Clan he was from. Asura liked the village so far, the idea of meeting new people was something he was always fond of, however this time he was more in a hurry to get ready for the exams, to take down his opponent and become a Chunnin, that his current goal, that is what he needed to focus on for now, that and getting stronger, nothing would stop him from doing either of them, no matter what. His mind was always filled with new ideas to take down a target, anything from knocking them out with Taijutsu or using Ninjutsu to shatter their hopes and take them out with ease. His head always allowed him to come up with creative ways to use water and wood to take down almost anyone, but never with Earth, that seemed to be his weakened element, just like Taijutsu wasn't really his forte, which was another reason why needed to find some combat gloves to boost his standard strikes, to take his enemies down easily. He had a dream one day, that he would be a Sage, that he would travel the world, but those dreams were always turned to nightmares by the six armed beast from his mind, who he called Comet, who was the literal opposite of Asura himself, this creature scared Asura beyond belief, a Demon, a Mabukai. Asura spoke to himself, being that the bench was near the stranger who went to the streets to find information, so he would be able to hear, Asura's voice let out to himself, "I will never let that beast take control."

Dray strolled the streets of kumogakure no sato while putting ears out for floating information. The village looked festive enough and Dray was just like any other regular person except for the only things that might have given him away as a shinobi were the medium sized scrolls in his back but his ninja pouch was beneath his cloak. The weather still looked calm and the probability of the day being a splendid one was still very high. Dray wondered what the chunin exams would be like, he had a feeling that he had once experienced it but it had now become a natural feeling to him because most times, he felt like he knew something or he had done it before. The chunin exam was a competition where genins undergo different tasks that would involve fighting each other after which those that are worthy would be promoted to chunin level. It was a pity that he did not remember how he became a chunin but that mattered less now because what good would thinking about the past do him. As Dray walked the streets, he looked at himself in years to come, he wanted a different look and he was thinking of what it would be. First things first, he needed a more convenient way to carry his scrolls because he knew that he was going to get more. Maybe a belt or something around his waist would do after which he would have a larger scroll on his back to harbor the greatest of his ninja art. He ran his hand through his hair and felt the parts that were going thicker due to the atmosphere in kumogakure. He had once noticed the underground layers of his hairs going black but after washing them thoroughly, they became as green as ever but now, Dray liked the idea of his hair going black so if such thing as part of his hair was going black then he was going to leave it and expect more black to come.

The puppet master kept walking the streets calmly and Chi was sealed in a scroll rather than besides him so as not to attract unwanted attention. He is to blend in and that was just what he planned on doing. The young man looked to his left and right normally as smiled a bit at the eyes that clashed with his own before looking away. “I will never let that beast take control” Dray would hear as he would turn in the direction of the sentence. Nice, nice, he would grin inside of him. A good thing to hear all since he had been walking the streets of the cloud village. Dray eyes met a young man in grey shirt and camouflaged trouser who had short silvery hair. From his sitting position, the man looked fairly large but Dray being six feet and some inches wasn’t all that bad at all. Now, how was he going to approach such a person, he wondered. He had read lots of books and tons of information resided in his head and most of it all he seemed to have developed the power of speech even though his words always came out poetically. It was all part of art. Dray would walk towards the young man who was but a few inches away from him and was sitting on a bench. “Every man has a beast inside of him. Defeating the beast is not the solution rather taming it is. As you have just said, you plan on defeating this beast but if there was no beast in the first place, you would have found yourself doing something else other than getting stronger and preparing for it’s defeat to protect yourself and the ones you love. Not all beasts refer to wicked entities so to say, if no man had no beast in them then they have not tasted what life truly is.” Dray would say once he got to where the young man was and sat on the bench beside him while looking at the passer bys.

WC:685

"Tame? This beast that is within me? I can't... I can't beat it, it is me, but without the restrictions, without honor, with only the care for destruction, I can't defeat it either, all I can do is prevent it from taking over... Heh" He looked over to the strange man who had sat beside him, "The answer lies in the heart of battle. And battle is all me and my other side have in common, it might be all we have in common. To live is to fight, to fight is to live, and I don't fight for victory--I fight to improve myself." He stopped for a moment and realized he was talking to a stranger, "Oh, sorry for going on about that. I am Asura of the Senju Clan, pleasure to meet you." Asura held his hand out to the stranger in a hand-shaking gesture as he looked over to the man, his bright purple eyes shining in the sunlight. Asura is a tall, muscular man with sharp features, short white hair and bright purple eyes. "I'm from Konoha, a Genin, and I will never be put down." He wore a light blue T-shirt with a white trim, in addition to blue jeans, black combat boots, and a pair of black leather fingerless gloves. He also wears Gray shirt over his light blue shirt keeping the top three buttons undone to show his shirt that is located underneath. He wears a strap from the top of his right shoulder to his lower left rib which he uses to carry his equipment and supplies. And to his side was his leather backpack, holding his food and the book his brother gave him to read in his spare time. Asura's head band was placed around his waist, keeping it out of the way for when he went into combat. Asura simply smiled to the stranger, watching him.

Asura Senju… This man is from konoha and also from the senju clan? This meant that he also possessed the same wood abilities as Dray but Dray was not even sure that he was from this senju clan he had heard about. He had believed that the ability might have been implanted in him or some other way because whatever thing that had been done to him was something that he could not explain. Everything just seemed new, even his ability to create and manipulate plant life. He is going to take his chance with this young man and see where the conversation would lead to. His main motive was finding out about this missing Draygglez Senju person and this was one of the best chances he had had since he had began because if this person was also from the senju clan then he must have some relation to the missing person since they are both from the senju clan. Dray looked forward all through his speech as he waited for the young silver haired man’s reply.

So he was here for the chunin exams and he was pretty determined too, it is only a matter before everything becomes all clear. “Victory.. victory.. it depends on how you view it. It is common sense that the victor is always the one who prevails but how one goes about being victorious in battle matters, Some always let their opponents think that they are victorious until he stabs them in the back, that is his victory.” Dray would say still looking forward. He was ready to question the young shinobi about the matter at hand but Dray had the feeling that today was not the day for such. The man talked about the beast in him that could never be tamed because the beast was him. There were other ways of going about it apart from taming it, if the beast he was referring to was the inner him then embracing it seemed the best way to go about it.

A stranger giving his own opinion was not something to be trusted so since Dray had known the man of this other young senju, he thought the man also deserved to know at least his name. “My name is Zennyo. Zennyo ryuo. I seem interested in you but I have the feel that today is not the day for our talk. Until we meet again, you might want to decide on what to do with the beast that resides inside of you. If taming it was not an option, then embracing it would prove a better solution but if none of these seem to be any help then it only shows that its something that only you can discover by yourself.” Dray would say to the young man, Asura Senju. The clouds would rumble while announcing the downpour that would soon arrive. Dray had known better than to trust the deceiving perfect clouds of the village hidden in the clouds. Kumogakure was indeed an adventurous location for the chunin exams and these genins had no idea what they were in for.
WC:521

Asura nodded, lifting his head to look at the sky, "Looks like it is going to rain down... I should probably head back to my camping ground." Asura looked back to the man, "Pleasure to meet you Zennyo, I'll talk to you some other day, and hopefully by then, I am a Chunnin." Asura let out  a laugh before his face turned serious. "Anyways, I'll see you some other time, goodnight!" Asura turned around, picking up his backpack but leaving the water bottle behind for his friend. Asura yawned and started walking, leaving marks in the dirt as others watched him simply walk through the village, stepping on the stones or kicking them to the side without a thought as the giant of a man made his way past cafe and shop alike. He turned around and waved to Zennyo as he ran off, running through the street and past the cafe, his backpack bouncing against his back. Asura ran out of the village, making his way to the river he normally camped next to. Once he had arrived he desperately looked for a cave of some sort, luckily he spotted the perfect place to put his tent up and keep it dry. He put his tent up in the dry place, still with a view of the river before Asura sat down next to the river, closing his eyes and crossing his legs, going into meditation. As Asura entered his own mind, a forest filled with mist and the sense of danger, in the real world, it started to rain, pouring down all over Asura  and the river.


Training
Speed, Strength, Reaction Time, Perception, Endurance
D-1 ~> D-2, 400 words and 50 Ryo.
2,000 Words in total

The young man lifted his head and looked at the sky noticing that it would rain soon enough. He expressed his pleasure in meeting Dray and mentioned that he had to return to his camp before the rain would start and Dray also noted something from what the young man had said. “.. hopefully by then, I am chunin.” It was a nice goal or would it be an assumption anyway Dray would make sure to watch his fight in the exams and see if he truly is worth it. He picked up his belonging and ran off while waving good bye to Dray. The special jounin could not help but smile a little as he could not say what he saw in the little conversation with this young man but Dray was sure that by the next time they met, he would be so different due to the various changes he was undergoing and the adaptation to kumogakure no sato that he was feeling. Knowing that the rain would pour down soon, Dray did not try to rush home, he just sat down on the bench staring into nothingness. He had indeed not gotten any tangible information on his mission or maybe he had, it was not yet time for evaluation so he still had a very long game to play. The green haired man would smile while thinking to himself, the exams were only days away and he himself could not foresee what was going to happen. It was only a matter of time and he was ready to wait. He had an element of patience right inside of him and this was something that he did not get from any shinobi training. It was something that came from the inside. Many might mistake patience for sluggishness but Dray understands, where to be patient and when to strike fast, it was what made him the special individual that he was, it was what made him Zennyo Ryuo.

Dray would stand up to leave as the rain would begin. With the tiny droplets of the water touching to the ground, not a single drop would fall on Dray as the waters would be parted inches before they got close to his head or attempted to touch his clothing. It was the power of the one who possessed an affinity to suiton. Dray would walk the streets till he got to the inn as he would enter the inn without any umbrella nor sign of being drenched by the rain. The special jounin would walk up to his room as the civilians in the inn would open their mouths with awe. He was.. A mystery indeed.

WC:445
Total wc:2559
Training Green Art: puppet mirror pyramid (2000/2559)
EXIT